Search and Rescue

Posted on Sun Mar 10th, 2024 @ 4:32pm by Captain Maia Sterling & 2nd Lieutenant Saul Humphries & Lieutenant Maximillion Thornehill Junior & Lieutenant Colin Barth & Lieutenant Commander Havri Belbre & Lieutenant Commander Sayori Summers & Lieutenant Commander Gwendolyn Griffith & Lieutenant JG T'Plana-hath

Mission: Double Dealing
Location: Ferengi Station, Clone Reserch Lab
Timeline: 239602.16

Captains Log Stardate Supplemental 239602.16

The Leto has navigated the asteroid field, and just as the clone of Colin Barth indicated there is a research facility out here. the Leto is within transporter range. Sensors indicate that 2/3rd of the station is offline, and power generation is quite low. The station itself has been pelted with large asteroids and it looks like the shields have been all but exhausted. We are picking up life signs. Attempts at communication have failed. There are no support craft or escape pods. It looks as though the facility has been stripped of almost everything useful and then abandoned. We are going in to investigate. Sterling Maia A, Captain, Commanding Starship Leto.

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[On]

The Leto was within 40,000 Kilometers of the station and approaching at 1/4 impulse power.

"Helm, get us in close. I want to use Leto's shields to help protect that base," Maia ordered.

=/\= Engineering, please put together a damage control team and you might want to take over an energizer or two, it looks like that base has been stripped, and their main energizer is offline"=/\=

=/\= Yes, ma'am, =/\= reported Sayori from her station down in engineering.

The turbo-lift doors opened and Gwen stepped onto the bridge, PADD gripped tightly in hand. She crossed quickly and stood by Lieutenant T'Plana'hath, clearing her throat very softly, but loud enough for Vulcan ears to pick it up.

T'Plana was working on how the Orions may have accessed Iconian technology, all known sites were heavily restricted and monitored. Could the Orions have found a new undisclosed site? T'Plana became instantly aware another was coming towards her, hearing the soft footsteps, then the soft clearing of the throat, she looked over and saw the doctor. "How may I help you doctor?" she asked in the calm, flat tones of a Vulcan.

"Verification of your ribosome inquiry," Gwen said quietly, handing her the PADD. "Plus, I ran an analysis of the genetic abnormalities. Notice the telomeres? Between the age of the ribosome infusion and the genetic degradation, the results are fairly solid. All indications are the clone is approximately two years old."

T'Plana quickly read through the report, "You are correct, however, there is some information you have not been made aware of." T'Plana glanced at the captain and inquired "Captain, permission to provide Lieutenant Commander Griffith with classified Φι Ξι Ύψιλον T'Plana-hath information?"

"Yes, I'll certify that I permitted her to be read in," Maia said.

Gwen raised an eyebrow and took T'Plana's padd, looking it over and giving a low whistle. "Interesting," she said. She handed the padd back. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

Maia looked over her shoulder.

Havri, have your away team beam over there, and treat it as a search and rescue, life support is only available on certain decks so you're going to need pressure suits to do a full reconnoiter,?"

"Aye Captain". as she got up and hit her communications badge.

This LCMD Belbre, Alpha team report in pressure suit to Transport room 1 ASAP.

=/\=Aye Commander, on our way =/\= The reply came.

"Lieutenant P'Rar, I want you on that away team and see what you can make of that cloning technology," Maia added.

Maia turned to T'Plana'Hath.

Lieutenant T'Plana'hath, see if they have anything in the way of a computer and database database over there. Feret out as much information as you can," Maia instructed.

T'Plana acknowledged the captain, "Aye, aye captain." and she got up to retrieve the Intelligence Tricorder and other tools of the trade.

"Mr. Humphries, take a squad of Marines for backup, full tactical gear," Maia ordered.

"Aye Captain" Saul replied.

"Captain," Gwen said, picking up on the conversation, "permission to accompany the away team. If we run into anything that will clue us into their medical technology, I'd like to examine it."

"Ah good you're the adventurous type, very well doctor I think you're right. Permission granted," Maia said.

Gwen snapped a salute and rushed back to the turbo-lift, heading back to Sickbay to prep.

Ensign Jeffries was at the helm this morning and he reported.

"Captain, we are now point-blank range from the station, Thrusters at station keeping, and have extended the shields around the station. The hull is no longer being battered.

"Very good. Mr Jeffries. Havri, be careful." Maia said.

"Aye Captain, I always plan to bring everyone home that I take with me," said Belbre.


Colin was in a stasis unit and had no idea what the hell was going on. Within seconds of age shields taking effect, the stasis pod opened letting Lieutenant Barth out of the pod. He was a bit disoriented and looked around. The stasis pods had been faulty cause of how old they were. It was the only reason the Orions wanted the station. Colin was still freezing from being in stasis. The Orions had clothed him in all white linens.

~ What the hell is going on?~ he asked himself. Colin didn't know where he was or what was going on. Colin realized he was in some alien facility. He looked everywhere for a com badge.

-------------------Sickbay-----------------------

Gwen walked into Sickbay quickly, put her fingers to her lips, and gave a loud whistle. "Valla! Grab two medkits and you're with me. And where's our medtech? The Rigelian?"

"Ensign Darath, Ma'am," he said, stepping forward.

Gwen pointed at him and beckoned. "You're with us. We'll need 3 suits, and you'll need to assist Engineering in getting life support up and running, once they have power."

"Yes, Doctor," they both said, jumping into action.


------------Ferengi Station Adar----------------

The away team materialized on the promenade of the station. the power was low here and even the emergency lights were flickering. the atmosphere was thin only 9 lbs per square inch. the place was a mess there were bodies scattered about here and there. No fires or smoke, but the lighting cast shadows everywhere.

[On]

Saul and his squad of marines set up a perimeter and secured the area

"I think we should try to stabilize auxiliary power and try to get the internal sensors online."

"I agree," said the chief engineer. She gave hand signs to her damage control team to fan out and find what needed repairs.

Gwen shined her light along the corridor and nodded to Darath. "Find the life support station once they've gotten power restored. We're going to need air if we rescue anyone."

"Yes, Doctor," Darath said, joining the engineers.

"Mr. Barth, where are engineering and the bridge? Humphries asked.

"The reason you all are here is over this way," said the Barth clone, "follow me. I will take you to the real Colin Barth." The clone started walking down a corridor that had very faint lighting. "The stasis pods are this way," he said as they walked 10 meters down the corridor.

Saul shrugged and followed him.

Gwen and Valla followed as well, letting the rest of the marines keep an eye behind them. Gwen's HUD on her visor was only registering one, which was both a blessing and a curse. Fewer surprises, but it meant either the stasis pods were shielded, they'd already failed and one man would soon suffocate in the thin air...or this was a trap.

"We should have power stabilized in just a few minutes," Sayori called to the away team members who were following the clone. Her own damage control team members were scanning panels looking for a power node that they could charge and restore power at least locally. "Mr. Vicks, Mr. Wedge, find anything?"

Down the promenade one way, Ensign Steven Vicks called back. "Nothing here, ma'am."

The other way, Petty Officer John Wedge waved her toward him. "Got something, Commander." Sayori reached his side just as he got a wall panel dislodged. Indeed, underneath was an EPS junction, one which, the engineers thought, would cover a good few sections of the station, maybe as far as the lab.

"Good work," said Sayori. "Crewman Cid has the energizers. Get her to help you set up." She tapped the commbadge on the exterior of her suit. =/\= Summers to Belbre. We'll have local power in a few minutes. Not sure how far it will go yet, but once we get basic systems online we can move to the core more easily and restore full power from there. =/\=

=/\=Good to hear, that will make things easier to do here. =/\= replied Belbre.

T'Plana walked behind the group, when she found a Ferengi data node and com node she would place a small microcomputer. These microcomputers began to infiltrate the Ferengi computer network and relaying all data to her PaDD. T'Plana and Lieutenant Tanger would then run the data through the Intelligence computers on board the Leto.

Gwen directed her tricorder down the corridor. "Definitely detecting a lifesign," she said. "We should see who was left behind. They may need medical attention."

Ensign McCain rushed in. "Looks like we found three more stasis pods, one is empty but two are still occupied looks like we found the ambassador and someone I don't know. but he looks like a member of Starfleet.

Should we beam them back to the Leto?" McCain asked.

"Let's make sure there's nothing dangerous in them," Gwen said, hurrying down the corridor with the others.

----------Stasis Pod Chamber Deck Ten science lab 2A------

Meanwhile, down at the stasis pods, Colin Barth was still getting his bearings right. He was stumbling around as he looked at each pod. They were all empty. Then he stumbled upon two stasis pods that had people in them. One was Ambassador Wainwright and the other one, Colin recognized the person but couldn't believe the name. Collin tapped in the unlock code to try to open Wainwright's pod. It wouldn't budge.

Colin continued to walk around the stasis pod room. He heard something from the long corridor. He didn't know what was going on. Was it a rescue team? He decided to go back to his pod and hide.

Footsteps sounded outside the chamber as several pairs of feet came to a halt. There was a brief pounding on the door and then a hiss as its hold was released and the door panels were forced open.

"I can't read any life signs now," Gwen said through the doorway. She helped a security officer push the doors open wider and they walked in.

The room was eerily quiet and dark. Their wrist beacons swept the room quickly. "This looks more like a storage room for--" Gwen stopped as she saw the pods. "Cnych," she said. "They're stasis pods. If they're offline and not opening, the people inside are going to suffocate. Let's get power to them and get them open."

Belbre was Betazoid and had senses others did not have. She began to look around and could sense something like they were being watched or someone was close by. " Keep your eyes open everyone. I don't think we are alone right now. I feel like someone else is here on the station."

"Well, we did detect that life sign," Ensign Thrall said, scanning the room.

"Keep to your own, Ensign," Gwen scolded. She turned toward Belbre. "Most likely the pods are failing, someone woke up, didn't like the thin air, and thought they'd fare better inside. Unfortunately, the pods are shielded. Can you tell which one has a conscious person?"

I am telepathic as a lot of Betazoids are and I am picking up some mental signs around me. It is like someone is watching us but still hiding because of fear of something. I am picking up some telepathic responses from the chambers there. They are asking for help to escape and be set free," replied Belbre.

"We need to stabilize life support," Saul said. Power is at 10 percent and falling. The battery backups are failing. Life support is shut down to 69 percent of this facility," Saul continued.

=/\= Humphries to Commander Summers, any luck on restoring power or life support =/\=

=/\= Trickier than we thought, Lieutenant, but it shouldn’t be too much longer, =/\= reported Sayori. The partial restoration had been easy but restoring the entire fusion core ended up being a much more complicated task.

Gwen shrugged. "Old-fashioned way it is then," she said. "Valla, I need fifteen ceecees, tri-ox," she added as she approached one of the tubes.

Valla placed her medkit on a console and opened it, pulling out a programmable hypospray and setting the dosage. She followed Doctor Griffith quickly, passing the hypo like a baton to the doctor's outstretched hand.

Gwen looked in the first tube and saw a young, tall, dark-haired human male apparently unconscious. The second tube showed an older male, also unconscious. The third tube, however, showed a middle-aged red-headed male who looked somewhat familiar. She pressed the most prominent button on the console on the side of the pod, and it opened obediently. "Lieutenant Barth, I presume," she said, pressing the hypo to his neck. "This should help you breathe easier. We'll get life support restored as soon as possible. My name is Doctor Griffith. We're here to rescue you."

T’Plana -hath smiled slightly when they said the room was shielded. In fact, to most tricorders, it was, however Starfleet Intelligence had a newer model that was designed to penetrate shielding, still in its field-testing stage it was proving rather successful. She adjusted hers and began to sweep the area. She instantly picked up several hidden lifeforms “Commander, Lieutenant Belbre is correct there several lifeforms present. They are using Jem’Hader shrouds to conceal themselves. I make out five life signs…” Here T’Plana paused; They are Jem’Hader in a hidden chamber beyond that wall.” T’Plana pointed toward the wall opposite her.

Gwen gave T'Plana a disapproving scowl, about to chastise her for not saying something sooner, when her patient reached up to her.

Barth started to get back to normal. He looked at Dr. Griffith. "Get me a phaser Doc," he said, "I have some Jem' Hadar idiots to collect a receipt from." Barth pulled Griffith close. "Put an emergency transporter tag on me." he said.

"I'm fresh out of phasers, unfortunately," Gwen said. "And you're fresh out of a stasis pod, and low on oxygen. Heroics might not be advisable."

"Then beam me over to the Leto," said Barth, "Maia Sterling is the captain right?"

"Yes, she's--"

Barth looked at Gwen, "Do it now Doctor," he said faintly as he passed out again.

"Right then," Gwen said, standing up straight and nodding to her nurse. "Get back to the beamdown point. Tell anyone with free hands we need help carrying three survivors.

Valla nodded and ran full speed out of the room.

Gwen stepped back and poked at the controls for the second pod. "The missing Ambassador, I'm guessing," she said, judging by the age of the man. She pressed the hypo to his neck, giving him a dose of tri-ox as well, then moved to the third pod, opening it and injecting the young Starfleet officer inside.

A moment later, Valla charged back in with three engineers. Two took the Ambassador, one joined Valla took Lieutenant Barth, and Gwen hauled the younger Lieutenant out of the pods.

They worked their way back down the corridor back to the beamdown point and away from the shielding. When they'd gotten to a safe distance, they laid all three on the floor away from the engineering crew. Gwen felt her passenger stirring and held him down while her nurse knelt between the other two, scanning them.

=/\=Griffith to Leto,=/\= she said, tapping her combadge. =/\=Five to beam up directly to Sickbay.=/\

Max heard sounds, voices, felt a breeze and a light. He struggled to consciousness, but when he finally opened his eyes, everything was a blur. There was a purple haze, a flash of light, and then a single face looking down at him. "Oh crap...I'm dead..." he said before he passed out again.

A few moments after the transporter took the survivors and medical crew away, the lights came back on across most of the station. Certain EPS relays crackled with sparks, causing a handful of sections to go dark again, but the situation had become stable.

=/\= Summers to Away Team. I know you were in a rush but we have partial main power. It’ll take a bit longer to get to one hundred percent. Hope I didn’t miss a deadline! =/\=

=/\= Leto to Summers excellent work, Sayori, what's the damage assessment?=/\=

=/\= Not great, ma’am! Things are stable for now but it won’t take much to disrupt. I need time. =/\=

T'Plana watched as Lieutenant Commander Griffith and her medical team whisked away the individuals from the stasis pods, from the shadows. Once they were out and away, she continued her scan and located a way to the command-and-control center. She stealthily made her way towards it.

*****USS Leto Medical Bay******

Meanwhile back on the Leto, they had beamed Barth straight to sickbay. Some of the medical staff on duty put him on a biobed. They gave him some oxygen and he started to come back to consciousness. Looking around he got a bit anxious.

"Can I see Captain Sterling?" he asked.

"Just a moment," the nurse who was monitoring him said. She checked his readings and nodded to the Captain to come over.

"I'm here Colin, I've got you," Maia said.

"Captain," said Colin, "we need to destroy that compound. The Jem-Hadar, Orion Syndicate and Changelings are all working together. They captured me over two years ago. That clone of me took over my life. I have a feeling you might not believe me on this."

Colin looked Maia and with his eyes begged her to believe him.

"It was your clone that found me and led us here to find you, Colin," Maia said.

"That is great Maia," said Colin, "the compound still needs to be destroyed. Those bastards held me there for six excruciating months or might have been even more, I don't know."

"You were assigned to the USS Calypso a Nova class patrol ship that has since gone missing in this area, Lieutenant Max Thornehill was the Chief Helmsman. They must have replaced you with clones, but what happened to the Calypso?" Maia asked.

"The Calypso went into the rift," said Colin, " Maia it was excruciating agony watching the Calypso be destroyed."

Gwen kept an ear open but was focused on her patient. The Ambassador was resting comfortably, but the Lieutenant in front of her was having trouble stabilizing. Suddenly the biobed let out an alert and his readings crashed.

"Cortical stimulators," she said. As the nurse affixed them to the Lieutenant's forehead, she activated the biobed's trauma protocols. "Set to fifteen..." she said, then after the nurse set the charge. "Activate."

The Lieutenant's body jerked, but his readings stayed flatlined. "Increase charge to twenty," Gwen said, then a moment later. "Go."

He jerked again, and this time, his heart jumped back to normal, and his brain activity increased rapidly.

Gwen let out a breath and nodded to the nurse. "Good job, Roger," she said.

Max tossed and turned on the biobed, then suddenly sat up, screaming, "I don't like eucalyptus!" He was wide-eyed and breathing heavily, but after a moment, he took in his surroundings and realized he was in a Federation Sickbay. "Where...the hell...am I?"

Gwen put a hand on his chest and made him lie back down. "Calm down, Lieutenant. You're in Sickbay, aboard the USS Leto. My name is Doctor Griffith. What's the last thing you remember?'

"The Leto? Don't know that ship," he said, half to himself. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember was being on Starbase Eight. I was transferring out from an assignment."

Gwen swallowed and braced her hand on his shoulder. "Lieutenant," she said, her voice calm and serious, "We have just rescued you from an abandoned station. You were kidnapped and have been held there in stasis, presumably for the past two years."

"Two years?!?" he shouted, bringing a shocked hush over the Sickbay. "I've been in stasis for two years? Who's been at my post? Oh my God, what about my parents? My sister? They must have thought I was dead!"

The doctor glanced at the Captain who was tending to Mister Barth. "I'm sorry," she said, "but they didn't know. You three were replaced with clones, who took your place. Presumably, yours is at whatever posting you were on your way to, and your family isn't aware that you were gone. But that's good news. You're safe, and they haven't spent two years in pain."

She watched his readings begin to climb and grabbed his chin, making him look her in the eye. "Breathe, Lieutenant. I need you calm." She gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's going to be all right. What's your name? Did you mention a sister? What's her name?"

Maia tapped her comm badge.

=/\= Captain Sterling to Lieutenant Raal, we need you in sickbay councilor =/\=.

[Tag] Max, Isabelle Rall

[OFF]

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A post by

Captain Maia A Sterling
Commanding Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

2nd Lieutenant Saul Humphries
Marine Det 95 Commanding Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Lieutenant Commander Sayori Summers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Lieutenant JG T'Plana-hath
Intelligence Officer
USS Leto NCC-80916

&

Lieutenant Colin Barth
Chief of Operations
USS Leto NCC-80916